Gifted
by Nametake
Summary: Kagome Higurashi, a kind-hearted middle-school student, receives an odd present along with a note. "It's a game," the note reads, "that can only be won by killing and taking or you, yourself, will be killed and taken from. Whoever is the first to collect every single gift will have their deepest wish granted." Unwrapping the small box, Kagome pulls out a tiny, pink jewel shard.
1. Chapter 1: Paethön

_._

 _Gifted_

 _Chapter One_

 _: Paethön :_

 _._

 _._

 _._

"Happy birthday, Higurashi."

Kagome turned to the brunette boy behind her and smiled warmly at his blushing face. "Thank you, Hojo," she said genuinely, while taking the gift basket he held out to her. Eri, Yuka and Ayumi all cooed from their desks' seats. Once Hojo looked away, rubbing at the back of his neck in nervousness, Kagome glared over to her friends. The three girls grew silent, but couldn't help some of the giggles which escaped their lips.

"I know how you're on the archery team and I mean…" Hojo's voice grew faint. "I thought you'd get sore… sometimes, not-not that you don't stretch or anything, but I'd figured you'd appreciate somethings that could loosen your muscles l-like tea and heating pads and…" The stuttering junior high boy eventually trailed off and began to pick at the ends of his black uniform sleeves.

Kagome smiled once again and gave a small bow, "I really appreciate the thoughtful gift, Hojo. Thank you."

Hojo stopped fidgeting with his uniform and grinned at her toothily, "I-I-I'm glad!" He gave her a quick bow in return and hurried out of the classroom, into the hall, where a few other junior high boys were waiting for him.

Kagome sighed. She sat at her own desk next the three girls dressed in a their green, red and white uniform. The girl dressed similarly set the newly recieved basket down.

"So, so, so," Eri teased, wiggling her brows up and down, "looks like someone's got a crush on _you_."

Ayumi wrapped her hands together. Kagome could practically see stars sparkling in the girl's eyes. "Isn't that so romantic? He got you a gift thinking of ways to make you comfortable."

"That's definitely boyfriend material," Yuka added in.

Kagome shook her head, "Come on you guys, Hojo's just really thoughtful, that's all."

There was a sudden loud crashing outside of the classroom and Kagome stood, along with the other girls. "What was that?" Ayumi asked.

"Beats me," Yuka said.

Eri began to dig through her schoolbag, looking for her phone, "Wonder if it's a fight."

Kagome rushed out of the classroom, ignoring her friends' calls after her. There, standing in the hallway, holding a younger boy against the wall by his collar, stood the unanimously feared Inuyasha Taisho. Of course, despite him being half-demon, Kagome, the ancestor of a Shrine Maiden, found him to be nothing more than a big bully, abusing the reign of terror he held because of his blood heritage.

"Why don'cha look where ya' walk next time, huh?" Inuyasha's golden eyes narrowed, his sharp canines glistened in the light.

Kagome approached the boy and the few students that had begun to crowd around the incident moved out of the way for her. "Taisho," Kagome cut in, speaking to the boy formally, "this is too much."

Inuyasha moved his attention over to the girl. His eyes widened once he realized who was speaking and released the younger boy that had supposedly bumped into him. Kagome watched as the young boy ran off only to then give a swift bow to the silver-haired boy, which of course left many muttering. _The_ Kagome Higurashi bowing to a half-breed?

"Thank you, Taisho," Kagome thanked, only to be answered in silence. Inuyasha shoved his clawed hands into his uniform's pockets, turned on his heal and walked away.

Kagome felt a weight on her shoulder and realized it was Eri, "That's right, you better run!"

"Eri!" Ayumi chided, having followed after the girl, "What if he decides to come back?"

Kagome fought the urge to roll her eyes, "Come on, you guys, enough." She turned sadly to Inuyasha's retreating figure, "He's dealt with enough problems, already. Why else do you think he lashes out like that?"

"Oh, Kagome, Kagome, Kagome," Yuka hooked an arm around Kagome's waist. "So considerate, you're even nice to the bullies."

Kagome shrugged, "It's not like anyone is born mean, there's always a reason behind everyone's outer appearance."

The school bell, whether taking the opportunity or not, rang.

.

.

.

Kagome rubbed at her shoulder, a little sore from today's archery practice. She was actually looking forward to Hojo's sweet gift and felt a bit lighter on her feet as she walked towards her locker. She was alone on her walk; Eri, Yuka and Ayuma having long since gone home. The girl brushed out her green, uniform skirt and turned the corner into the locker area of the school. A warmth suddenly panged in her chest and she grabbed at it. As soon as it was appeared, it was gone.

"What was-?" Kagome wasn't quite sure what to call such a sensation. She stood, unsteadily, "Should I go to the nurse's?" Looking through one of the room's windows, seeing as how the sun was mostly set, Kagome wondered if the nurse was still even on the grounds.

She shook it off to the best of her abilities and made the rest of the way to her locker, hoping that is was something as docile as heartburn. Although embarrassing to have, she figured it was harmless as opposed to a serious medical condition.

Kagome stared at her locker's door, to find it hanging open, a bright pink light shining out of it. "Did someone leave a flashlight in my locker?" the girl asked aloud. She walked over to the locker and the light dimmed exceptionally.

Inside, Kagome Higurashi found a small, brown box, its lid giftwrapped to the top. Kagome picked up the, what she assumed to be, present and observed the odd thing. "A secret admirer?" she speculated and looked around, wondering of the shy crusher was still near. The middle school girl then noticed the folded piece of paper inside the locker and she reached for it, opening the thing.

.

 _Hello, player and welcome to the game._

 _Although for some of you, as opposed to others, this gift is entirely unexpected. Along with you, I've given something similar to thirteen other players, making fourteen of you in total._

 _._

Kagome stopped reading and turned the paper over, "What is this? A joke?" She scrunched her nose, "It's not a very good one, just kinda," a chill ran down her spine, "creepy." Instead of throwing the thing away, she decided to continue reading.

.

 _Understandably, this may be confusing at first. I have chosen each of you because deep down, within those sweet - and not so sweet - little hearts of yours, there is a desire. To put it simply, I am making what you want most a possibility. Within the box there is a small gift that you are meant to keep safe and away from others._

.

Kagome's eyes moved back to the box that she had yet to of opened. Why would someone go to such extents to play a silly little prank? She went back to the note.

 _._

 _It's a game and like all games, there are guidelines to follow and rules that are not meant to be broking:_

 _There is only one way to win and that is by killing and taking or you, yourself, will be killed and taken from. Whoever is the first to collect every single gift will have their deepest wish granted._ _Remember, if you do not want to participate, soon enough someone else who is a better team player will find you, kill you and take your gift._

 _Best of luck to you, player._

 _._

Kagome felt nauseous, strangely enough. "Weird sense of humor," the girl murmured to herself and folded the piece of paper back to its original state. She debated whether opening the box was even worth her time. "Probably just some fake spider," Kagome reasoned and pulled at the red ribbon, freeing the box's lid.

Peering inside, Kagome removed the top and reached into the box. After finding the thing's contents, she pulled out a small shard of what she thought to be glass. "This doesn't even make any sense," Kagome stated. What sort of punchline was a pink glass-shard? The girl shook her head and re-wrapped the strange gift, shoving it into her book bag.

Kagome set the piece of paper in her locker and grabbed her outside shoes, replacing them with her white, inside shoes. She stood back, after putting her proper footwear on and stared at the note, still unsure of the whole "joke." Grabbing it and re-reading it over, Kagome looked for something she could have missed.

"Let's see." she mumbled, "'Hello, player… blah, blah, blah… thirteen players… rules… one way to win… Best of luck to you-'" Kagome's eyes grew as they repeatedly scanned the final line. She was certain it had said "player," of course it said "player," she wouldn't have imagined it. But, there, before her very eyes, the note read her own name.

.

 _Best of luck to you, Kagome Higurashi._

.

Kagome shoved the note back into her locker and ran to the train station.

.

.

.

* * *

Author's Note:

What'cha think? Good, weird, some sort of weird-good hybrid? Let me know! Strange concept I wanted to write out, not sure how well it will do, but I'd love for your opinions.

Many questions that are yet to be answered like WTF was the heartburn episode? And the note? Who wrote it, may not be who you think… or is it?

Question's comments, concerns? I'd love to address them in the next A.N. (Also, if there are any grammatical errors that my picky eyes seemed to miss, I'd appreciate a mention.)

 _Until next time… Best of luck to you, player._


	2. Chapter 2: Hercules

_Gifted_

 _Chapter Two_

 _: Hercules :_

 _._

 _._

 _._

Something crashed in Kagome's kitchen. The girl sat up from her bed and looked over to the digital clock next to her. It was around one in the morning, although the sound hadn't woken her. She couldn't sleep well anyway due to the strange note from the other day leaving a bad taste in her mouth. Looking around her room for a reason to act on her paranoia, Kagome grabbed the empty water glass on her bedside table and stood from her bed.

It was probably just her grandfather or her little brother, Souta, stumbling about in the kitchen, half-asleep looking for a midnight snack. This was nothing new, Gramps and Souta were always hungry, but something deep in her chest told her otherwise. Perhaps she was overthinking the possibilities, but she'd rather be safe than sorry.

Kagome stopped before she reached her closed bedroom door and turned to face her dresser. Although she figured the thing to be trash - the pink shard that is - she'd kept it hidden in her underwear drawer for the past two days. Another bang and Kagome's attention was torn from the shard and back to the matter at hand.

She opened the door and stepped out, taking careful, quiet steps so she wouldn't wake up any of her sleeping relatives. Kagome passed her mother's room and then her grandfather's, hearing his signature snoring coming from within. _I guess it's Souta that's in the kitchen, then_ , Kagome figured and made her way down the stairs.

It wasn't until her foot left the last step and touched the first floor that she felt a similar warmth within her chest return. Kagome flinched at the sensation and in turn dropped the glass in her hand. To her surprise, she never heard it impact the floor, instead, when she looked down, she found a figure crouching at her side, holding the glass. The figure set the glass down onto the floor with great care so as to not make noise. There was a short moment of uncertainty in Kagome as she stared down at the thing, too shocked to move, but soon enough the entity looked up to her and its golden eyes reflected in the night, like that of a cat's.

Kagome screamed, or at least, she tried to, but the figure had lunged at her so quickly, that soon her mouth was covered and her cries were muffled. It - the cat-eyed figure - suddenly pulled her towards the first-floor restroom and although Kagome did her best to struggle, she was no match to her captor's strength. "Let me go!" Kagome tried to tell the person, but only incomprehensible muffles came from her.

As soon as they were in the bathroom, the unknown person had closed the door as quietly as possible and locked it. "Don't worry," the person, now man from what Kagome could gather, whispered into her ear. "I'm here to help." She recognized that voice, she wished she didn't, but she knew exactly who this invader was.

Kagome struggled free and manage to liberate an arm, reaching for the light. She flicked it on and found herself staring into the reflection of the golden-eyed boy from her middle school. "Inuyasha?" Kagome asked, although her words were stifled exponentially.

His golden eyes pierced hers through the mirror of the bathroom. With Kagome's back pressed against his chest, she could only see half of his face, but there was no mistaking those amber eyes, silver hair and distinctive canine ears. "Why?" Kagome tried to ask.

Inuyasha gazed deeply into her reflection, his eyes were hard and stern, "I'll let you go if you promise not to make any loud noises."

Kagome's brows furrowed, she was furious. Who really was this boy? What was he doing here? There was another loud crash outside of the bathroom and Kagome realized that Inuyasha wasn't the only trespasser. She turned her eyes from the door back to Inuyasha's in the mirror.

"I know about the game," Inuyasha explained, still refusing to release her. "I understand the rules and I'm here to protect you."

Suddenly the warmth returned to Kagome's chest and she noticed a faint pink glow coming from Inuyasha's breast pocket. He was still dressed in his school uniform; his shirt now open to reveal a simple white shirt underneath. Kagome's eyes betrayed her as they showed genuine fear, she began to struggled again. Inuyasha was here to kill her, wasn't that what the note said?

"Relax," Inuyasha soothed, "I'm not here to hurt you. Believe me." He released Kagome and she stepped away from the boy, turning to face him. "There's another player in your kitchen, looking for your jewel shard," Inuyasha whispered, "luckily I was here to stop you from going the kitchen."

 _He could've killed me_ , Kagome thought, _but instead he's-_ Kagome shook her head, but kept her voice down, "I don't- What're you doing in my house? I should call the police on you! And what's all this 'jewel shard' this and 'player' that. It was just a joke, wasn't it?" A realization overcame Kagome, "Did you put that note in my locker?"

Suddenly, Inuyasha reached out towards her and pulled her into a tight embrace. Kagome froze, unsure of what to do. "I'm here to protect you, please trust me." He pulled away from the confused girl and leaned down only to press a tender kiss to her forehead, "I'll keep you safe."

Inuyasha released Kagome and she stared up at him, confused and lost. This couldn't be the same Inuyasha she had known for years as the "bad boy." He gave her a smirk and stepped around her to turn the bathroom lights off. Inuyasha unlocked the bathroom door and silently stepped out. Kagome followed after him and he turned to realize that she was very close behind him. She looked up at him and for some strange reason he smiled, a large, happy smile. Reaching out a hand, he took hers and led her towards the kitchen.

Kagome, too tired to properly process just about anything that was happening, stared down at their conjoined hands. What had she gotten herself into?

"Come out," she suddenly heard a gruff voice whisper from within the kitchen. Kagome peered over Inuyasha's shoulder and felt the sensation once again, this time a faint pink glow emitted from behind the kitchen's island. "Where is it? Where would it be?"

"Of all the places, why would you bother to start with the kitchen?" Inuyasha asked.

A man stood from behind the counter and Kagome could now see that the glowing pink light came from his pants pocket. He was a handsome man, probably a few years older than both her an Inuyasha. One look at him and Kagome knew that this man wasn't human at all, but a demon, his sharp teeth and pointed ears led her to believe a wolf of some sort.

The wolf demon turned blue eyes to Kagome, "So, you're the new little shard holder?" He smiled. "Koga's the name. I'd hate to kill such a pretty thing like you, but" he shrugged, holding up his hands, allowing both Kagome and Inuyasha to see that he possessed one of the kitchen knives, "those are the rules." Inuyasha stepped in front of Kagome, blocking the wolf demon from her view, and began to growl deeply. "And you are?" the wolf demon asked, obviously not impressed.

The half-demon stopped his growling, reached into his uniform's shirt, and pulled out a small hand gun, a silencer screwed to the barrel. Kagome's eyes grew in terror, this really was happening, she really was enthralled in some sort of sick and twisted game of kill or be killed. "Inuyasha," the boy stated and then fired the gun.

The wolf demon had prepared for the bullet and had moved out of the way just enough for it to only graze his arm. Koga then threw this knife and Inuyasha easily hit it away with the gun in his hand. He charged the wolf demon and the black-haired man stepped back to grab more knives from one of the drawers. Grabbing a handful, Koga threw them all at Inuyasha, at least that's what the half-demon thought. Each knife flew past him and Inuyasha grinned, but soon heard a small shriek come from the girl behind him.

 _Damn that bastard_ , Inuyasha grimaced, _he's only aiming for Kagome_. Luckily, Kagome had ducked, missing any sort of penetration. Inuyasha came back to her side and shoved her towards the living room, out of Koga's sight.

"Ow! Hey!" Kagome protested.

"Stay down!" Inuyasha commanded and went back to face Koga only to discover an empty kitchen. "Coward," Inuyasha's nose wrinkled in contempt, "searching a house at night, hardly even giving up a fight."

Kagome stood on shaky legs and walked over to the silver-haired boy. "Inuyasha," she began, trying to let all that had just happened sink in, "what's going on? Why are you helping me? And… Why do you have a-a-a gun?" Something about the word made Kagome's heart leap into her throat.

Inuyasha turned to the girl, his expression blank as he leaned down, placed a hand on the small of her back and firmly pressed his lips to hers. Kagome stood still, her eyes as large as possible, while Inuyasha's were closed in pure bliss. It was a short kiss, tender and swift. After a few moments he finally pulled away, a soft smile on his lips, "I've wanted to do that for so long."

"Who's there? I'm calling the police!" The two turned to face the stairs, hearing Kagome's mother's voice from the top.

Inuyasha turned back to Kagome. "I'll explain everything later," he told her and turned towards the kitchen window, planning to use that as an exit. He reached for the windowsill, but felt a tug on his shirt and turned back to see a rather uncertain Kagome staring up at him with tear filled eyes.

"What if he comes back?" she asked.

Inuyasha shook his head, "He won't, I'll be sure of it." With that said, he was out the window.

"Kagome?"

The said girl turned to see her mother holding a phone in one hand and a baseball bat in the other. Kagome felt a fresh set of tears run down her cheeks. "Mama," she whimpered and ran to her mother.

Once again, Kagome did not get a decent night of sleep.

.

.

.

A.N.

Soooo... I wasn't planning on updating today, but I am mwahah! So there you go, hope you enjoyed! Things are just going to get weirder from here on out...So we've gotten to meet a few of the other players, something seems a little off with that silver-haired boi if you ask me…

.

Questions, comments, concerns? Let me know and I'd love to answer them!

.

Thank You To:

Jack-Kuran-Inuyasha-Takashi for the encouragement to continue!

.

 _Until next time… Best of luck to you, player!_


End file.
